Thank You cards

I recently sent out some Thank You cards and I have received a lot of compliments on them, so I thought I would share the source. I bought them on www.etsy.com and the name of the vendor is The Little Brown Pen. She not only has these pink themed postcards (postcards not cards, I had to provide my own envelope), but postcards in different color themes, beautiful 8x10's and bigger in sets or by themselves. All paris themed. I've asked Santa for a beautiful aqua-green set, hopefully they will be in my stocking on Christmas morning.

White Christmas

On Tuesday night I met my Handsome Husband for dinner at South Coast Plaza and then we walked over to The Segrestrom Center for the Performing Arts to see Iving Berlin's White Christmas. I LOVED IT! The cast was perfect, the voices were amazing and pleasant to the ears, the dancing was terrific and the costumes - to die for!

The cast's voices were amazing. I especially liked the girl with the red hair and the older woman's (Martha's) voice. I LOVED the red tulle ball gown! So Beautiful.

All the 50's dresses were so chic, I wish they were in style today.

White Christmas was one of the best plays I've seen so far. Everything just came together for a great show!

Tablescape Thursday - Nutcrackers

A couple of years ago, Alyssa bought me these nutcracker plates from Willliam and Sonoma. We use them for breakfast on Christmas morning. This week, I am using them for Greg's birthday. I've switched out the pink ornaments in the garland from Michaels and added red and gold. Took out the silver trees and put in the red. Added red candles.

I borrowed the big nutcrackers from my friend, Marlene, she collects them. I put in little nutcracker ornaments that I bought at Michael's (from the dollar bin). I consider the little nutcrackers quite the deal, considering I saw the same gold and silver ones for $5 at Crate and Barrel.

Here is a look at the various salad/dessert plates.

One final look at the table.

Saucy Roast Beef Sliders

Picture from "Mommy I'm Hungry!"

Three Envelope Picante Roast Big Mouth Sliders

From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

3 to 4 pound beef chuck roast
1 cup of water
One envelope of dry onion soup mix
One envelope of dry Italian dressing mix

One envelope of dry brown gravy mix

1 (8 ounce) jar of Pace Original Mild Picante Sauce

12 Dinner Rolls

1 sweet onion, sliced and sauteed until browned
Swiss Cheese, shredded
Horseradish Sauce

Sour Cream Horseradish Sauce

From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

1/2 cup of sour cream

2 tablespoons of horseradish

4 tablespoons of chili sauce

1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Prepare and refrigerate till needed.

Click here for roast and slider directions!

This is so easy and yummy - a little spicy!

Ham and Cheese Sliders

Ham and Cheese Sliders

from the-girl-who-ate-everything.com

We served these delicious and easy sandwiches at my birthday lunch. Here is the recipe:

24 good white dinner rolls (I used King's Hawaiian bread)

24 pieces good honey ham
24 small slices Swiss cheese (I used Cheddar cheese)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup miracle whip (I didn't use this)

Poppy seed sauce
1 Tablespoon poppyseeds
1 1/2 Tablespoons yellow mustard
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tablespoon minced onion
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

In a small bowl, mix together mayonnaise and miracle whip. Spread onto both sides of the center of each roll. Place a slice of ham and a slice of Swiss inside of each roll. Close rolls and place them into a large baking dish or heavy cookie sheet. Place very close together.

In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the poppy seed sauce ingredients. Pour evenly over all of the sandwiches. Let sit 10 minutes or until butter sets slightly. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Uncover and cook for 2 additional minutes or until tops are slightly brown and crispy. Serve warm.

** sandwiches can be assembled a day ahead and kept in the fridge ready to bake.

Catching up

AXO had their winter formal and Delaney took her boyfriend Michael.

Katie went with her friend Kendall who is in Delaney's sorority, so the sisters got to be together.

Birthday Tablescape

So, it's that time of year again and I'm happy to celebrate another birhday. This year I am enchanted with the color pink. I decided to do a pink and silver tablescape but I couldn't resist adding a little gold. I was amazed at how beautiful gold and pink are together.

The Handsome Husband bought me a few fun things for my birthday. I received some Waterford crystal iced beverage and red wine glasses. YEEEE! I was so excited! The design is Colleen Essence. I will show a close up further down. I got 6 of each. I have to give a shout out to Bloomingdales here. We got the best deal. $25.00 off each $100 spent and then 15 dollars b-money (gift cards that are good for 2 weeks at Bloomy's and spend like money) for every $100.00. Our guy Alex broke out our order in such a way that we got maximum savings! I also got new silver placemats, silver napkin rings, pearl like napkin rings and individual trifle bowls. Alyssa and Greg gave me two watch bands for my watch and Katie and Delaney gave me a cover for my kindle. I made out like a Bandit!

Here is a close up of the Colleen Essence iced beverage glass.

I got these cute little deer planters with succulents in them from Stater Brothers. Be careful when buying them because a lot of them had cracks at the horns. I was lucky to find two without.

I took grocery store roses and some Dusty Miller from my garden for the center piece. Dusty Miller is my new favorite to put into flower arrangements.

I used Alyssa's china, "Opal Innocence" along with silver chargers and silver sparkling placemats from Pier 1. The napkin rings are two different rings from Pier 1.

The garland and flowers down the middle of the table are from Michael's. I added some pink ornaments and silver pinecone candles.

The sun was shining on the table in the morning and I couldn't resist another picture.

We had a birthday lunch and I made these ham and cheese sliders

and roast beef sliders. I will share the recipes this week. Really easy to make and delicious. We also had a greek pasta salad.

We finished up with chocolate trifle and everyone received a white chocolate covered peppermint oreo. Both dessert so easy to make. I used my new little individual trifle bowls from Pier 1.

It was a great day with my family. I love them so much!